That night in bed I got to thinking about Teddy, you know, Faith’s Ex. On how he seemed to be somewhat of an over achiever. Faith rolled over and said, “What’s wrong? How come you’re not sleeping?
“What made you pick me? I mean, your late husband seemed to be perfect. And I know I’m certainly not.”
“What brought all of this on?”
“He seemed to be able to do anything, so why did you want me?” I said. Faith sighed, and snuggled closer. Then she said,
“I know it may seem that Teddy was the perfect husband, but he wasn’t. I’m not going to list all of his faults. But I know one of the reasons I wanted you and still do. But in order for me to explain that, let me tell you one of his faults. When we had been married for about a year. One of my friends suddenly became a divorced single mother. Teddy and I were talking, and he said that she was going to have a hard time finding a husband now.” Faith gave another sigh and tried to crawl inside of me, then she continued.
“I asked him why? He told me, ‘well she has a kid, I know I wouldn’t want to raise another man’s kid.’ I couldn’t believe he said that. I was very disappointed in him.
And do you remember what you said when you brought Alita to me, while I was sleeping? Anyway, you said that it was as if she was yours! Well, that cinched it for me, your goose was cooked. So go to sleep, or do you want to have sex?”
“Can’t we do both? I mean sex first, then sleep?”
“You got it bucko, top or bottom? Faith said.
“Yeah,” I said…….
The next morning our plans changed some. We had planned on going, the two of us. But seeing Rosie’s downcast countenance, changed our minds. Alita also had a pouting lip on her, almost to the ground. How Alita knew that we were planning on leaving them home beats me. But as soon as we said they could go, she smiled. Big time.
It didn’t take Rosie long to pack bags for the two of them.
The whole family followed us to the air pasture. You really couldn’t call it an airstrip. As I stowed our suitcase in the plane. I noticed Rosie’s was a little heavy. “What do you have in here, bricks?” I asked her.
“No, you said we should all go armed. I just got a weapon from the closet, along with ammo.”
“Uh, do you know how to shoot?” I asked her with bated breath.
“Sure, I read up on it, nothing to it. I got on the internet last night, it showed me how.” Rosie said.
“What kind of a gun do you have in here?” I asked.
“It’s called an Uzi, for its size it holds more shells and shoots them faster. That’s okay, isn’t it?”
I looked at Faith, my eyes were asking her to step in here. She said, “Sure it is Honey. But we have a rule around here, we never draw a gun without intending to use it.
So don’t go waving it around a like a kid, which you are not, we trust you.”
Rosie was glowing, at the praise that she was not a kid. So far she had proved herself. After we got in the air, I asked Faith. “Just how many guns were in that closet?”
“A lot, besides the ones on the back closet wall, if you open that wall there is a room back there, it is full of guns and ammunition.”
“Why in the world so many, were they expecting a war?” I said.
“I don’t know. But have you ever noticed the gun slots in all of the outside walls. I guess the local Indians, about three hundred years ago, would come by and just take potshots at the house. Those walls are three feet thick. Teddy told me they believed in being prepared.”
Being that we left from our own private airfield, I didn’t file a flight plan. So when I reached 20,000 ft. I got on the radio with Denver and filed one. The plane was flying a like a new one. Which I guess you could say it was.
Alita wanted fed, so Faith and Rosie changed seats. Rosie was bombarding me with questions about the plane. Finally I said, “Just take the wheel, keep her steady.” I showed her what did what, she learned fast. Then I had her do a few maneuvers, she was a natural.
“How come you’re so good at this?” I asked Rosie.
“Oh, I looked up this plane model on the internet. They showed how to fly it. It was a little easier than I thought it would be. Must have been how you showed me, you’re a good teacher.” Rosie said.
“What’s your I. Q. anyway?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, I’ve never been tested. I’ve always been pretty good at tests. Do you like to take tests?”
“Heaven’s no, I hate them. I’ve always liked practical application, you know hands on?” I said.
Faith said, from the back seat, “Does he ever.”
Rosie said, “Huh, what?”
“You never mind her, Rosie, she’s just funning you.”
Rosie thought a little while, then said, “I know what she was talking about, I’m not a baby, you know.”
“We know you’re not, Rosie. But sometimes we act like it.” Faith said.
I changed the subject, “Do you know how to set the course?”
“No, not really.”
“Okay, this plane has the newest navigation system, just put in the coordinates and it will set the course, it uses satellites to guide itself by.”
“Then it has Auto Pilot?” Rosie asked.
“Sure, like I told you, we just put in the latitude and longitude of where we want to go and the GPS guidance system will take us there, pretty simple, huh?”
“Well what if it malfunctions, how do we know where to go?” Rosie said.
“Well then we just use dead reckoning, I just look out the window to see where I’m at and then I say, I reckon we’ll head that way, or I’m dead.” I said with a laugh.
Faith said from the back, “Oh, you think you’re so funny, but yes we do go by the landmarks that we can see, in conjunction with the map. But at night, if we don’t have instruments, we can go by the stars, which help a little bit, but if it’s cloudy we’ve pretty well bought the farm.”
I turned and looked at Faith, “Hey, you didn’t tell me you knew how to fly?”
“Of course I do. Teddy taught me.” She seen my eyes cloud over, then she said,
“I’m sorry, I won’t mention him anymore, I know he’s starting to get under your skin.”
I nodded at her, “well, it does seem like every time I turn around, up he comes again. I’m going to have to do some fancy foot work to live up to his memory.”
“No you’re not, you’ve already surpassed him in so many ways, remember, it’s you I love.” Faith said.
Alita had finished her repast, she sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then held out her arms to me and said, “Papa”. Faith said, “See there, those are her first words, you’re the only father she knows.”
I started to trade places with Faith, “Uh, perhaps you had better put those away,” I said,
“What for, Rosie has seen them before? But just to please you I will.” Then we traded places. Of course I was just in time to change Alita, seems like it always turned out that way. It wasn’t long before Alita and I were fast asleep. Faith and Rosie could fly the plane for awhile.
I awoke when I felt the plane change course. “Hey, what’s going on?” I said.
“Oh, I was just giving Rosie some exercise’s to do, go back to sleep, we’ll put it back on auto pretty quick.”
“Where are we at?” I asked.
“We’re over the mountains west of Denver, I think that is Berthoud Pass down there.” I looked down, “Yep, you’re right. How’s the fuel?” I asked.
“We have plenty, it’s just under three quarters of capacity. Nothing to worry about. I think this plane is a lot more fuel efficient than our old one.” Faith said.
“That’s one of the reasons I bought this model, it’s supposed to use about thirty percent less fuel. So far I’ve been well pleased with it.” I said.
All of this time Rosie had been making shallow dives and banking the plane, just getting the feel of her. Yep, she was a natural. She pulled back the stick and put her in a steep climb, then she pushed it forward and dove in a spiral, then she pulled it out like a pro. Wow! She was a pro…Then she put it back on course and turned on the auto pilot.
Rosie looked back at me, “Do you want to change places, I want to take a nap?”
As we were changing places, Rosie looked out the window, “What range is that?”
“That’s the Medicine Bow Mountains, they lead all of the way up into Wyoming.”
Faith asked, “How far are we from your ranch?”
“A couple of more hours, the ranch is in the Big Horn Basin, a little south and west of Ten Sleep. I haven’t told them we’re coming.”
“Why not?” Faith asked.
“I don’t know, I thought it would be nice to surprise them.”
“I thought you said that you trusted them, these cousins of yours, Red and Daisy?”
“I do, but for some reason, I don’t know why, I just want our coming to be a surprise. Okay?”
“No skin off my tush, I was just wondering.”
We settled down for the duration. Rosie and Alita were asleep, Faith was nodding off. I was wide awake, I guess because I already had my nap. I got to thinking about why I didn’t call ahead, I still could, I had my Satellite Cell Phone. But no, I just had an uncomfortable feeling, something was not right.
Seemed like it was no time at all and I looked down and we were getting close to the Basin. I woke Faith up, Rosie woke up also. I said,
“Just so the both of you know, something is not right. I’m not for sure, but we should be prepared for anything. Faith do you have your weapon handy?” She nodded. I looked back at Rosie, “Why don’t you get your Uzi out of your suitcase, or did you put it in the luggage compartment?”
“My suitcase is behind my seat.” Rosie said, as she complied.
“Look, I don’t know what we’re going to get into, but when we land, Rosie I want you to stay in the plane with Alita, duck down out of sight. I know, I know, I’m probably making a fool of myself, but this won’t be the last time or the first time, I have.”
When I got within sight of the ranch, I dropped down to the deck, just over the tree tops, I hit our runway going a little fast. But was still able to bring her to a stop just outside of our hanger doors.
The door to our main house flew open. Out came two guys with Daisy in between them, they each had one hand in their jacket pocket. I seen the fear on Daisy’s face. I didn’t have to tell Faith what to do. She opened the door on her side, as I did on mine. We both hit the ground at the same time, with our pistols in our hand.
Those two goons pulled their hands out of their pockets, with Glock 9mm’s in their fists. They fired and missed. Faith did a running dive and came up firing. I did something like that, not as pretty though.
Faith’s first shot hit her guy between the eyes. Mine got the guy in the shoulder and gut. I had fired twice. Daisy sank to the ground terrified. We started to stand up, when we heard a voice behind us, “Drop em’ or you’re dead.” We froze.
I turned my head, there were two of them. One guy said, “Kill them Eddy, do it now!” The one called Eddy started to raise his AK-47, then I heard the stutter of the Uzi.
Rosie got them both, they didn’t know what hit them.
Faith ran over to Rosie and held her close, Rosie was crying, “I didn’t mean to kill them, I just wanted to stop them from hurting you guys.”
“That’s okay, Rosie, that was the only way to stop them, you did the right thing.” Faith said, Rosie laid the Uzi on the seat and picked up Alita, who was staring with wide open eyes at the carnage.
I went over and picked Daisy up to her feet, “Where’s Red?” I asked her.
“They have him at the drilling rig, they keep us separated, I guess in order to control us.” Daisy said, as she clung to me.
“Drilling rig? What do you mean, they can’t drill for oil on this place.” I said.
“That’s what Red told them when they first stopped and asked about drilling. Red had no more than said that, when they knocked him out. They have the rig about four miles back in the hills where it can’t be seen. I don’t think they could of heard these shots from there.”
“Where are my manners,” I said to Daisy, “this is my wife Faith, and our Daughters, Rosie the oldest and Alita our youngest,” I said.
“My, you have been busy,” then Daisy held her hand out to Faith, “I’m Daisy, cousin to your husband.”
“Where are all of the hands?” I asked.
“Working on the rig, the cattle are just fending for themselves. The hands were given a choice, either work or be killed.”
“How many of them are there?” I asked.
“There were ten of them, but since you all have killed these four, that makes only six left. Some of the guys who came with them are alright, I think they kidnapped them also.”
“Did you try to call the Sheriff?
“They cut the land line, and took all of our cell phones. They’ve been here about three weeks.”
“What in the world did they hope to accomplish. They must of known that sooner or later they would be found out?” Faith said.
“That’s a funny thing, I thought of that. But do you know that nature conservancy that you thought you put the ranch in?”
“Thought? So yeah, what about it?” I said.
“One of the two that your little red hair daughter shot, he was the head honcho of the outfit. I think it was bogus.” Daisy said.
“You mean our land is not in the nature conservancy?”
“I do believe it ain’t. I heard them talking on how they were going to have to kill all three of you, your Dad and Jake too. As soon as the well came in; they were sort of waiting till then.”
“Do you know if they were working on their own, or for somebody else?” Faith asked.
“Come on in the house, I want to show you something.” Daisy said.
There was an open briefcase on the table, Daisy shut the case, on the cover was a logo, it was the logo of one of the biggest oil company’s in the world, ‘Euro-con’. “Of course, we probably can’t prove they were involved, but they sure weren’t shy about showing this briefcase.” Daisy said.
I sat down in a chair, my chair; the one I had sat in at every meal since I was a little guy. “But how could they believe they could get away with it?”
Daisy gave a grisly laugh, “Oh come on, Sonny Boy,(she always called me that, when she thought I was being obtuse.) They started a war and invaded a sovereign country on a pretext. What makes you think they can’t take a measly little ranch and get away with it?”
“We have laws in this country.” Faith said.
“Laws are only as good as the system behind them. Look how they’ve twisted the constitution to suit their needs. This administration has packed the supreme court with their stooges. They think their invincible.” Daisy said.
“Wow! Sounds like you have given this some thought.” I said.
“Yeah, like for over two hundred years. I am surprised you haven’t reached that conclusion, you’re half Indian yourself.” Daisy said.
“I have Daisy, I have. But there is more to it than that. We fought them till they almost had us wiped out. We have to work within the system. Their own excesses and debauchery will bring them down, as it did the Roman Empire. I think I will call the Sheriff.”
I reached in my pocket and got my phone. I had the county sheriff’s phone number programmed in. I got the receptionist. “Sheriff’s Office, how may I help you?”
“Jean, this is Clay Bronson, is the Sheriff in?”
“Clay! How are you?”
“I’m fine Jean, we seem to have a little mess out here, I need to talk to John.”
I heard her say, even though she covered the mouthpiece with her hand, “John, it’s Clay Bronson,” I heard him say, “What the hell does he want, I haven’t got time to baby set every damn Indian in this county?” She answered, “I don’t know, he said there was some kind of a mess out there.”
He picked up the phone, “Clay, how are you old boy, haven’t seen you in a coon’s age, what’s the problem?”
“John, I just want you to know that I heard everything you said to Jean, now that you know that I heard, I also want you to know if you ever call me a ‘damn Indian’ again, I’ll cut your throat and cram your balls down the hole. Do you understand?”
“Now, Clay, you must of misunderstood,” He stammered.
“Can it John, I also want you to know that I’m a ‘Special Investigator’ for the State of New Mexico, I’m on a special case and it’s led me straight here to my ranch. Get your ass out here and bring a bunch of troops with you. Make sure their heavily armed. Also bring the coroner with you, so far there are four bodies, I suppose there will be more.” I hung up, then I called Cort to fill him in; Cort asked for the Sheriff’s number. I gave it to him….
About forty-five minutes later five cop cars pulled into the yard; three county Sheriff cars and two Highway Patrol cars. A total of ten men. John came toward me with a shit-eating grin on his face. He held his hand out, “I’m sorry Clay for what I said, I was just having a bad day.”
I took his hand and shook it, “Just don’t let it happen again John. There are four bodies over here, they jumped us as soon as we landed. We shot back. There are six more bad guys out at Coyote Draw, they have an oil rig set up out there, they are holding Red and my hands captive and the way Daisy tells it; they have more captives out there also.”
“I thought your Dad put this ranch in the Nature Conservancy?” John said.
“Yeah, so did we. But it turns out one of those dead guys over there is supposed to be the head honcho for the conservancy, he’s dead.”
“Uh, Clay, your boss speaks rather highly of you, as do we, since you are a war hero and all. Are you going out there with us?”
“Yeah, I am. Otherwise, you’d get your dumb ass shot off.” Just then the crime scene guys along with the Coroner showed up. I had Faith stay there and get them lined out. Knowing these local yahoo’s, I bet she’d have to do their work too.
“John,” I said, “there are horses in the corral; saddle them up. It’s almost dark, we’ll catch them with their pants down. I’m going to my room and get my Bow. I’ll be right back.”
When I got back they had half of them saddled. Those Highway Patrol Officers knew more about horses then John’s Deputy’s did. All of them weren’t that swift though.
I saddled my horse with my own saddle. He was glad to see me. I was doing a slow burn, it was like being invaded all over again, we suffered through the first one, I sure wasn’t going to take this invasion without fighting to the death.
I tied my bow and quiver to the saddle. That guy that had the AK-47 was still laying there with the gun where it fell, nobody had moved him yet. I walked over and picked up the gun and then took his belt of ammo off him. I liked the idea of using their own weapons against them.
When I had went to my room to get my bow and arrows, I had changed my boots for moccasins. In the same drawer as the moccasins was my old hunting knife, a Texas Bowie, I strapped it on.
Just as we were ready to get in the saddle, Faith came over, “Honey, you be careful, if you get yourself killed, you’d better watch out, I’ll follow you and kill you again,” Then she kissed me, one of those one’s with a promise and a warning.
“You too sweetheart,” I said, when I could catch my breath. “The three of you keep your guns handy, I know Daisy has one, make sure she uses it, if any of them show up here.”
“Don’t worry, if any of them come around, we’ll dismantle them limb by limb.” My beautiful sexy wife said.
It didn’t take us all that long to get to the draw. We could see the rig long before we got there. They were working at least two shifts; I guess they were in a hurry. I stopped on the other side of the hill from the rig. I had the rest of them dismount and wait, I wanted to check things out. I crawled up the hill and peeked over. There were about six guys working on the drilling rig. Some six more were eating. I could tell who the bad guys were; they were the ones with the guns that were lounging around watching the others.
It was all of the way dark; dark like just before the moon comes out and that was good. I lay there thinking. How we could rush them, we’d win, but some of us would get killed along with some of the captives. I didn’t want that.
I crawled back down the hill. “I tell you what I want you guys to do. You spread out in a circle all around the rig, stay way back though. I just want you to catch anybody that may run. I don’t want you to shoot toward the rig; you might hit innocents. I’m going in there, any of those guys with the guns that come out are your responsibility. But I say again, do not shoot toward the rig.”
I unsaddled my horse and took his bridle off, I whispered in his ear, he nodded his head. I took my Bow and Arrows, plus I had my pistol, and my trusty knife. I think I had enough weapons, after all, there was only six of them.
My horse ambled off, stopping to get a bite of grass every now and then. I followed him. We went around the edge of the hill; right toward the rig. My horse continued to graze toward it; while I stayed about fifty feet behind him.
I heard one of the guards say, “Hey, there is something out there; I’m going to see what it is.” He came toward us. “It’s only a horse, nothing to worry about.” He called back. He had his back to me, I stepped on a twig, I must be rusty, he started to turn, my knife sank up to the hilt just under his sternum. He never made a sound as my knife found his heart.
One down, five to go. I wiped my knife on his shirt. My horse turned his head to look at me, then turned back and started to graze toward the rig once more. I could see their faces now. One of the ones that was eating was Red, my cousin. He looked up, a frown on his face. He looked directly at me. He couldn’t see me; it was too dark and he was blinded by a floodlight. But I could tell he knew I was there. I seen him pick up a butter knife and stick it under his shirt. He said something to the man that was setting beside him, it was one of our hands, he also slipped a knife under his shirt.
We circled to the side, we got two more. Three left to go. Red and Orville, I had remembered the other hands name. They got up and drifted toward one of them; they got him. Only two left. The last two were on the other side of the rig, one of them called out; “Slim, where are you?” He cradled his gun and started to walk toward where Red was, “Hey, what’s going on over there?” He said, raising his AK-47. I had notched an arrow, he took another step, I loosed my arrow, whish, it went home. His gun went off as it fell from his hands. The last guard started shooting, my next arrow went through his throat.
Everyone stood there, as if in shock. Red yelled, “Is that you Clay?”
“Of course it is, who else gives a damn about you?” I called back. Then I whistled, “Hey, you all can come in now.”
John came in, “Jesus Clay, you killed all of them.”
“I do wish you wouldn’t use the Messiah’s name in vain, John, He doesn’t like it.” I said.
“Huh? You are getting on me for that, when you just killed all of these guys?”
“I didn’t kill them all, Red and Orville did for one. Besides, it was kill or be killed, besides that they were trespassing.”
Red came up to me, “Daisy, is she alright?”
“Sure she is Red, we got all four of those guys back at headquarters. My daughter, Rosie got two of them, she’s a whiz. How about these other guys, are they upright?”
“Yes, their wildcatters, they were told it was a legit drill, they didn’t know till it was too late, then they had guns in their backs.”
“Good, tell them to continue with the drilling, only they will be working for us now. As long as this ranch isn’t in the Nature Conservancy, we might as well drill for oil ourselves.”
“Yeah, that guy took you for a ride, is he dead too?”
“Yep, sure is, he’s one of those that Rosie got.”
John came up, again, “Since you killed all of these guys, what do you want us to do?”
“I want you to investigate where these guys are from, I bet it’s big oil, do your job. Bring the FBI in if necessary.” I turned my back on him and addressed Red;
“Red, I want you and our hands to get back to the ranch, there is a lot of work to do, the place is falling apart. Who’s in charge of these wildcatters?”
John was already on the phone with the FBI, I knew he was too lazy to do anything, Oh well, the FBI would do a better job anyway. Red brought the ramrod over.
“Is this the only rig you have?” I asked.
“No, I have another one; their working in Arizona. I don’t know what’s going on now. They took my phone away.”
“Well, good, I have some work in New Mexico, if you’re interested. Here you can use my phone and let your family know everyone is Okay.” He took it and started to dial, pretty soon he was crying, telling his wife he was alright, she had been frantic.
Red and the hands fired up a truck that was setting near by and left for the ranch. I saddled my horse back up and took my time in getting back. The peace officers had left long before I did.
I did some more thinking as I rode under the starlight. What in the world made these guys think they could get away with a land grab? Were they getting that bold? Did the fact that they got away with breaking the laws of the constitution, make them think that way?
I heard a noise beside me, my horse shied a little bit; a coyote came out of the brush. I pulled up on the reins. The Coyote sat down on his hunch’s and just looked at me. “So,” I said, “I suppose you’re mad at me too?” He shook his head in the negative.
He let a long plaintive howl and then got up and left. I sure wish they could talk.
Everyone was in bed when I got back. I brushed my horse down and gave him a bait of grain. As I was walking toward the house I could see a light in my room. Faith was sitting up in bed reading. “What are you reading?” I asked.
“Well, I see that you have a lot of books, I believe this is one written by a Louis L’Amour. It’s pretty good, the hero reminds me of you. There is a sandwich on the nightstand, along with a glass of milk, I thought you would be hungry.”
“I am. Did Red tell you all about it?”
“Yep, he said you were hell on wheels. I told him I thought he had the direction wrong, more like heaven than hell.”
“Thanks honey, I think I will eat that sandwich. I’m a little tired.” I didn’t even get all of that ate, before I fell asleep. I woke up the next morning naked next to my wife.
She must of undressed me.
Rosie came into the room carrying Alita. “I fed her, she still wants you.” Rosie said, as she handed Alita to Faith. Rosie sat down on the edge of the bed, beside me.
“Dad, can I talk to you?” She said.
“Sure you can, anytime. What’s on your mind?” I said, as I sat up a little bit.
“Well, those guys I killed, it bothered me all night. How do you get over it?”
“You don’t sweetheart. You’ll remember them all of your life, each and everyone. But, it will get where it hurts less.” Faith was breast feeding Alita,
“Yes,” she said, “that’s true sweetheart. It bothers me too. But look at it this way, if you wouldn’t of killed them they would of shot us in our backs and then turned and shot you and Alita too.”
“I know that. I guess I was just feeling sorry for myself, I’ll get over it. Thanks, both of you, I love you both.” Then she leaned over and hugged me. I tousled her hair.
“Come on, you guys, Daisy has breakfast saved for you. Oh, yeah, the FBI is down there.”
Sitting at the table was a man dressed in a suit, he stood up and held his hand out, when we came in, “My name is Special Agent Harry Silver, from the Cheyenne office.”
I shook his hand, “I guess you know who we are.” I said.
“Yes, all three of you, and the red haired young lady must be the Uzi expert.”
Rosie blushed, “I had to shoot them, they were going to kill my parents.”
“Yes, the evidence backs you up on that. You are a hero, young lady.” He said.
“Did anybody ever go gather up those bodies at the drilling rig?” I asked.
“Yes, of course, we have a team up there right now. Plus one out here, going over every thing. They tell me there was a briefcase that belonged to one of them here?”
“Yes,” Faith said, then she walked to the roll top desk and rolled up the cover, “here it is.” Then she handed it to him. He looked at the logo and smiled.
I said, “What’s the smile about?”
“Oh, we’ve been trying to pin something on them for years. They are really good at covering their tracks. Perhaps this time, though.” I poured him another cup of coffee.
“How much do you want to bet?” I said.
“On what, may I ask?” He said.
“On how soon you will get stonewalled. I bet it isn’t even a week and they will have you reined in.”
He took a sip of coffee, then said, “I’m afraid I would lose that bet. I personally think it won’t take them 48 hours. You and I both know where this will lead, off the record, we know it’s this administration and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. But I will tell you this, I’m going to keep a duplicate copy of everything I find. Perhaps when this administration is gone, then we will see. But really, does anything really change from one administration to the next?”
“No, it hasn’t. They all think they can make changes, but when they get in there, it’s the same old story, their hands are tied. Then they become just as corrupt as the old ones were. You see, just like the Bible says, it is not up to man to direct his own step. It belongs to God to do that.” I said.
“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of; is that God’s patience will run out. Well thanks for the coffee, I’ll be in touch.” Then he got up and left.
I looked at my wife and said, “Well, I suppose I had better call Dad and Felicia and fill them in on the last day or so.” Faith said, “Give me the phone, I’ll do it. You go and check on your horse, brush him or something.”
I handed her the phone. Rosie asked if she could go along, “Sure, why not pumpkin. Would you like to pick out a horse for your own?”
“May I? A horse of my very own?” Rosie said.
“Sure, you may. After all you are a spirit rider, aren’t you?” I said.
“I don’t know what you’re really talking about, horses just seem to like me is all.” Rosie said, as we let the screen door slam. From the kitchen we heard Daisy call out, “Hey, don’t let the screen door slam.”
Red and the hands had already saddled up and went to check the cattle. There were still some FBI agents taking pictures and stuff, we ignored them. In the pasture next to the corral were some young fillies and some colts, two year olds. The crew still hadn’t started to work them yet. Some of them were still pretty rank.
“How about one of those?” I said, gesturing toward the young stock. As we approached they snorted and ran around, like they were so spooked, they were just bad actors.
Rosie sat up on the top corral rail, just looking. Pretty soon they quieted down. Most of them tried to ignore us. But one black colt, was what is called ‘proud’, meaning they had missed one testicle when they cut him. I could read him like a book, he came running up, snorting and blowing snot.
He slid to a stop right in front of us. Rosie looked at him and said, “Now that was just plain rude, if you’re going to be my horse, you’re going to have to learn some manners.” He hung his head, cowed a little bit you might say, then Rosie said,
“Come here, closer so I can get on.” He sidestepped right up to her, she swung a leg over him and they trotted off around the pasture. She brought him back around.
I said, “Is that the one you want?” She nodded. “You know he is what we call ‘proud’, that means when they cut him to make him a gelding, they missed one of his testicles?”
“Yes, he told me, does that mean he can’t father any colts?”
“Well, it’s rare, but I guess it’s possible, one’s better than none.” I said. “And just what do you mean, he told you?”
“Oh, I know what their thinking, sort of. They don’t speak, but somehow I know their thoughts. I can’t really explain it, I just do.” Rosie said.
“So do they know yours?” I asked.
“Perhaps, I think they know what I’m feeling, they might understand more. But all horses can pick up on what anybody is feeling, didn’t you know that?”
“Yeah, I did. That’s what makes them good with the disabled. I had a horse when I was just a young shaver, every time my foot would come out of the stirrup, he would stop, he was a good babysitter.”
“Can I take Diablo out of the pasture and pick a stall out for him in the barn?”
“I suppose, but have you asked him if he wants to leave the group?”
Rosie was quiet for a while, then said, “I guess he wants to stay with his friends for awhile, but will you tell the men to leave him alone; he doesn’t like them.”
“Yep, I can’t blame him for not liking them, if someone botched the job like they did, I wouldn’t like them either. I’ll find out who did that and he won’t be allowed to cut anymore colts.” I said.
As we walked back to the house, I said, “Why did you name him Diablo?”
“He was just feeling so mean, I told him he was acting just like the Devil. I told him I was going to call him Devil Ray, but he said he liked the Spanish Diablo, better.”
“Where did he learn Spanish?” I asked.
“One of the hands speaks Spanish, Diablo says he likes the way it sounds.”
I put my arm around Rosie’s shoulder and hugged her close, I had one very special daughter here. She hugged me back, we walked into the house that way. Faith was just getting off of the phone. “Well, what are you two so happy about?” Faith asked.
Rosie proceeded to tell her all about Diablo. Then she went to play with Alita. Faith looked at me and said, “How did you know he was ‘proud cut’?”
I thought a second, “shoot, I don’t really know, it just came to me, must have been how he was acting, I guess.”
“Humm, are you sure you’re not a little bit like Rosie?”
“Now that you mention it, maybe just a little bit, horses have always liked me.”
“Well they’re not the only ones; I like you more than a little bit.” Then she planted a big wet one on me.
When we came up for air, I asked, “So what did Dad and Felicia have to say?”
“Your Dad was quite upset, he wanted to come up here right away. But I told him that you had everything under control. I also told him that he would have to oversee the drilling on their place down there. I explained that they would be contacting him. Also that when they did, before he let them on the place, to check credentials.”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to ask the guys here for some thing that only they would know, like a mole on their ass or something.” I said.
“Yes, or something a little bit less embarrassing.” Faith said, with her little lopsided grin, which I was learning it meant that I had said something that was gauche.
“I was also wondering Honey; I remember you saying that your caretakers lived in the guest house. How come they are living in the main house?” Faith asked me.
“I don’t know, I guess you will have to ask Daisy. Does it bother you?” I said.
“No, I guess not, it was just a small point. You see, I have a good memory and when things don’t balance, it bothers me.” Faith said.
“Then I would suggest you ask her, I’m sure there’s a good reason.” I said.
Faith chewed her lip a little bit, I could see the gears going around. Faith headed for the kitchen, where Daisy was making lunch.
I went into the Den and took a book off of the book shelves that lined the walls of the den. Settling into the cowhide leather chair, I started to read. I never even got the first page read, till my wife was back. “I found out why, the hot water heater went out in the guest house. Your Dad didn’t leave instructions on what to do, whether to repair or replace. So they just moved up here. Isn’t that strange? They can run the ranch, but when a domestic appliance malfunctions, they don’t know what to do?”
I laid the book down, I looked at her, “I think I know why. My Mother handled everything to do with the house. I’ll call the plumber, have him come out and take care of it. Do you want them to move back to the guest house?”
“Heavens no. I want them to stay here with us. It was just something that was a little off kilter.” She started to whistle and bounced off toward the kitchen to help Daisy with lunch. I sat there for a second, thinking. Now some people would of thought that was weird, but not me. I was glad my wife picked up on small details. Who knows her little quirk might save our lives one day.
I called the plumber, I told him to bring a new hot water heater out with him when he came on the morrow. As I hung the phone up, Red and the hands started to come in for lunch. It was a good thing we had a big dinning room table.
At lunch, Rosie asked, “Who cut my horse and missed one testicle?”
Faith choked on the drink of water she was taking, “Rosie! Really, not at the dinner table.”
Red laid his fork down and said, “We’re sorry Rosie, but we were all doing the branding and cutting, perhaps we got in too big of a hurry. It won’t happen again, will it men?”
One of the hands asked, “Which horse was it?”
“The big black,” Rosie said, then added, “who speaks Spanish? Diablo likes Spanish.”
The same man raised his hand. “Good, you can take care of Diablo when I’m not around, he doesn’t like the rest of you.” Rosie said, as she took a bite of fry bread. Everyone at the table was staring at her, she just went on eating like they weren’t even there. Then she looked up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings, I didn’t say that I didn’t like all of you. Diablo told me that he didn’t, I was just passing on his feelings.” Then she went back to eating again. They were still staring at her.
Rosie glanced at me and her mother, I winked at her. She cast her eyes down, but a little smile was building on her lips. She was in complete control of the table and she knew it. I pity the man that she would grow up to marry. That is if she ever did get married.
After we helped with washing and drying the dishes. Rosie asked if we all could go for a ride. Faith and I allowed as we all could, if we only would, which we figured was a good idea. All four of us went to the corrals, Rosie wanted Alita to ride with her. She sat her in front, in between her arms. Their saddle was an A-Fork, where the saddlebow was narrow, so Alita could put her legs on both sides of the pommel comfortably.
Of course they were riding Diablo. I saddled my old horse, Nick, for Faith. I roped one of the working string for myself. He was a Roman Nosed, Strawberry Roan. The first thing he did was try and bite me. I rapped the bit against his teeth and he stopped it. I grabbed his ear and pulled his head down and told him a story, it had an unhappy ending, he didn’t like it.
I knew the first chance he got he was going to try and dump me. My old spurs were hanging on the tack room wall. I put them on. I swung aboard, he was a sunfishing devil, I sunk the spurs deep. He came back to the ground and proceeded to try to give me a liver transplant. This went on for a full two minutes. Finally he figured he wasn’t going to dust me. So he just up and quit and trotted over to the women, as nice as could be.
Faith said, “What was that all about?”
Rosie answered for me, “Oh, you know how males are, they always have to establish the pecking order.”
“Are you alright Clay, your nose is bleeding?” Faith said, as she leaned over and wiped a drop of blood off my chin.
“Yeah, I’m fine, he did ring my chimes for me though, didn’t he?”
“That wasn’t what I was worried about, I was more worried about the family jewels.” Faith said.
“Oh, yeah I think their okay still. Time will tell, won’t it?” I said.
“Oh please, will you two stop it,” Rosie said, “I know what you’re talking about, Dad didn’t get hurt any, I read on the internet that they pull back up inside for protection.”
“Oh, is that right young lady, perhaps you’d better tell them that. Also, maybe we had better start blocking some of that internet, what do you think about that?” I said.
“I wasn’t on any of those sites, this was on the Mayo Clinic site. You don’t have to worry about me watching any of those awful web sites. I hate them.”
“Well good for you Rosie,” Faith said. “We don’t like them either.”
“Hey,” I said, “lets change the subject, it’s such a beautiful afternoon, where do you want to go?”
“Well we haven’t seen the drilling rig, why don’t we ride by there?” Faith said.
“Okay, you did bring your .32, didn’t you?” I asked.
“Of course, I never go anywhere without it. What about you?”
“Yeah, mine’s in my pocket, what about you Rosie?”
She reached into Alita’s diaper bag and pulled her Uzi out. “I have it, one never knows.”
I know it seems strange that we’d have to go about armed. After all this wasn’t the wild frontier anymore, or was it? In some ways it was more dangerous now then it was back in the nineteenth century. Then you knew what was dangerous and what wasn’t, now one just didn’t know anymore.
The grass hadn’t turned brown, as of yet. Even though it was the middle of summer. This area had been getting rain, for once. We were riding single file, with me bringing up the rear. Rosie was in front. There was the buzz of a Rattlesnake, Diablo danced to the side. Faith palmed her .32 and blew its head off.
Rosie said, “Oh, what did you kill him for? He was just warning Diablo not to step on him.”
Faith said, “I’m sorry Honey, it was just an automatic response, my gun was in my hand before I had even thought about it. When my family is in danger, I react without thinking.”
“Your instincts were right Faith,” I said. “You see a Rattlesnake also reacts without thinking, he would strike out of instinct also. So you did right. You probably saved one of our horses from getting a venomous snake bite.”
“So, am I forgiven Rosie?” Faith asked.
“Yes, it’s just sometimes I get overly sentimental, I have to learn to toughen up, I guess. I suppose your quick reaction to danger, was how I felt when those men were shooting at you and Dad.”
“Yes, Rosie,” I said, “your first reaction was to save us, and you did. Just as Faith’s reaction saved our horses.”
We could hear the drilling rig working before we came over the last hill. It was still sitting right where it was supposed to be in Coyote Draw, as if it would of moved.
I sure hated them, but I guess it was a necessary evil. The only solace I had was knowing it would all be put back as it should be, the land I mean.
We rode up and ground tied our horses. Yeah, as I stepped off, that Roman Nosed Devil tried to bite me again. He was a funny one, I think he just did it to see if he could get away with it. Then he nickered softly and rubbed up against me, go figure.
Randy Fillmore, the owner of the rig seen us and came our way. (I’m sorry I didn’t tell you his name before.) But I guess I had more important things on my mind. He held his hand out to shake, I took it. He said, “I got hold of my cousin Spike in Arizona, they talked to your Dad and as such they are in the process of moving the rig to his ranch.”
“Good, I guess. As you probably can tell, this isn’t my favorite activity. If it wasn’t for the Oil shortage, I wouldn’t do it. The money isn’t that important, but anything that decreases our dependence on foreign oil is.”
“I’m glad the money isn’t that important to you, but I have to feed my family.” Randy said.
I looked at him and said, “I’m sorry, I came across as a pompous ass. I just meant that the money wasn’t the reason I was doing this, not that I was looking a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I understand. I think we should be reaching oil pretty soon; the core samples are looking good. After we get this hole producing I think we can move over a few feet and send out some laterals. That way we won’t have to disturb anymore ground.”
“Good, that’s what I like to hear.” Faith said.
“Uh, Mr. Bronson, has any of your men been around here?” Randy asked.
“No, I don’t think so, why?”
“Well, just this morning I seen the glint of someone glassing us from the hilltop, over there. It was just a glint and then it was gone.” Randy said.
“I’ll check it out.” I said. Faith and Rosie, with Alita on her hip, had started to pick wildflowers. I walked over to where they were. I told them what Randy had said.
“Who do you think it was?” Faith said.
“I don’t know, but who ever it was, was probably up to no good. It’ll just take me a few minutes. You guys wait here, Brutus and I will ride up there and scope it out.”
“You and who?” Rosie asked.
“My horse, I named him Brutus, just now. Don’t you like it?” I said.
“Well it sort of fits him, with his Roman nose and all.” Rosie said.
After giving Brutus another rap in the teeth. I mounted up and circled around and came up on the hilltop from the side. No one was there. But I could make out where someone had lain; by the way the grass was bent over. Who ever it was had stepped in a cow pie, I bet he was mad. I could see his footprint very clearly. Whoever it was, was not wearing boots, that was a print from a street shoe or I’m no tracker. Of course that only narrowed it down to about 98 percent of the population, but it got me to thinking.
I followed his tracks, leading my horse. They led back over two more hills. To where an ATV must have been parked, the tracks went back towards the county road. I got my satellite cell phone out of my pocket and called Charles Hester in Montana.
“Hey Charles, this is Clay Bronson, did that Dipper Tick ever show up there?”
“No Clay, he didn’t. It’s been pretty quite here.”
“Oh, another thing Charles, we’re starting our own Oil company. Only we’re going to do the drilling and recovery in an environmentally safe way. Think about it, if you want in let me know.” With that I hung up. Isn’t it strange how we still use the expression ‘to hang up’? When all you have to do is close the lid to disconnect.
So Dipper Tick didn’t go to Montana. I must of really pissed him off. Perhaps he had a vendetta against me and mine now? Who knows, perhaps it’s someone else altogether?
I mounted up and sat there, lost in thought, till Brutus reached around and tried to bite my toe. “Okay, okay, let’s go, find the women.” I said. He turned and headed across the hills, in a straight line, like an Eagle does.
When we found them, they were up Coyote Draw still picking flowers, Diablo and Nick were following along behind them. Alita was sitting on Diablo.
Faith asked, “What did you find?”
“Oh, there was someone up there alright. I found the spot he had lain in and even a shoe print, right in the middle of wet manure. I followed his tracks to where he parked his ATV and seen the tracks where the ATV headed off toward the county road.”
“No idea who it was?” Faith asked.
“Not really. Nothing definite anyway. Do you think it could be Dipper Tick?”
“I suppose, he was pretty mad at us. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of him.” Faith said. Then I told her about calling Charles Hester. We had mounted up and was meandering along toward home. When Brutus stepped in a gopher hole and took a little dip, I heard a shot and felt something strike me on the right side of my head, then darkness….